Rajasthan High Court restores separate registration of criminal writ petitions; overrules former acting CJ's verdict

The Rajasthan High Court full bench on Monday held that writ petitions arising from criminal matters must be registered separately as criminal writ petitions [Ravi Kumar v State Of Rajasthan & Ors.].

A Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay K Agrawal, Justice Sameer Jain and Justice Anuroop Singhi overruled an earlier verdict rendered in this regard by a division bench headed by former acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma.

The full bench observed that the July 2026 division bench ruling of the Court had failed to consider Rule 315(1)(h) of the Rajasthan High Court Rules, which requires writ petitions arising from criminal matters to be registered separately.

"The aforesaid decision in Jiya failed to consider or give effect to the statutory mandate embodied in Rule 315(1)(h) of the Rajasthan High Court Rules, its ratio, insofar as it prohibits criminal-side registration of such writ applications, is held to be per incuriam, having been rendered in ignorance of, or without due consideration of, a relevant statutory provision," held the full bench.

The full bench further clarified that the separate classification did not mean that the Constitution recognised a distinct category of criminal writ jurisdiction. Instead, it was a procedural distinction under the High Court Rules to identify writ petitions arising from criminal proceedings and ensure that they were placed before the appropriate Bench.

"The classification of a petition as a ‘criminal writ petition’ does not create an independent constitutional jurisdiction; it identifies the procedural character of a writ proceeding arising from a criminal matter and must be understood in conjunction with the constitutional jurisdiction under Article 226 and the applicable High Court Rules," said the Court.

The Court directed the registry to reclassify criminal writ petitions that were pending but had been registered under a different name, and place them before the appropriate bench within two weeks.

“The criminal writ petitions concerning criminal matters that are pending as on the date of this judgment but have been registered under a different nomenclature, the Registry shall re-register the same as 'Criminal Writ Petition' and shall place the writ petition before the appropriate Bench having the roster. Such a re-registration and re-classification will be done within a period of two weeks from today and it will be done expeditiously so that it may not affect the hearing of those writ petitions,” said the Court.

The Court also laid down how fresh petitions covered by Rule 315(1)(h) must be registered.

"All writ petitions instituted after the pronouncement of this judgment, which arise out of criminal matters and fall within the ambit of Rule 315(1)(h), shall be categorised and registered as “criminal writ petitions” and placed before the appropriate Bench in accordance with the roster and applicable Rules of this Court," it directed.

The full bench was hearing a reference made by Justice Anand Sharma. He questioned an earlier ruling on how writ petitions arising from criminal matters should be registered.

In July 2026, a division bench of then acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Maneesh Sharma had held that the Constitution did not recognise a separate category called “criminal writ petition”. It had directed the registry to stop registering cases under that name and register them simply as writ petitions.

The full bench, however, held that the earlier ruling had overlooked Rule 315(1)(h) of the Rajasthan High Court Rules. The rule specifically provides for a separate registration process for writ petitions arising from criminal matters.

The full bench said its ruling would apply from November 2, 2026.

Any judgments or final orders passed before that date would remain unaffected and could not be reopened only because the petitions had been registered under a different name.

[Read Judgment]